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Dark Sky, Bright Lights Over Pennsylvania

Steve Finestone uses a homemade telescope.Credit
Jason Cohn for The New York Times

GLIMMERING like a sequined showgirl and hovering in the Western sky near the setting sun, Venus appeared first, the warm-up act for what would become a cavalcade of, literally, thousands of real stars. Within an hour after sunset that June evening, Jupiter took a bow, then Saturn. Slowly, almost magically, constellations began to glint through the inky darkness.

On a good night for stargazing at Cherry Springs State Park, in north central Pennsylvania, the Milky Way is a speckled wash across the sky. On a perfect night, particularly during a new moon, the Milky Way is so bright it casts shadows. Stargazers hold out their hands and look at the shadows on the ground in awe.

“You get kind of overwhelmed at how many stars are actually visible,” said Stanley Nawrocki, a local self-taught astronomer whom his friends and neighbors call Stash.

The observation field at Cherry Springs, in remote Potter County, a 275-mile drive from New York City, has become a magnet in recent years for passionate astronomers, as well as for people who just want to tilt their heads back and ponder the vast majesty of the universe. Spotting the Big Dipper, Sagittarius and Cassiopeia among 10,000 stars is a delight in itself.

Many remote spots, particularly in the American West, are ideal for stargazing: the Natural Bridges National Monument and Bryce Canyon National Park, both in Utah; Mount Graham in Arizona; and Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Cherry Springs is just about as dark, even though it is close to what astronomers call the light pollution of East Coast cities.

“Cherry Springs State Park is doing an excellent job of preserving the dark skies,” said Bob Gent, president of the board of the International Dark-Sky Association, which fights light pollution. “The park management in Pennsylvania really appreciates this.”

Anyone over 40 can probably remember staring into a sky that pulsed with stars, but nowadays, man’s artificial light has erased the view. Chip Harrison, who manages Cherry Springs and seven other state parks, said only 10 percent of the United States population has seen a true dark sky, but a growing number are doing so at Cherry Springs.

Lured by the dark-sky observation field in the middle of the park, more than 10,000 visitors came to Cherry Springs last year, up 30 percent from 2005, Mr. Harrison said. Some visitors come to the park from far-flung locales — speaking in Earth distances, that is — like Texas, Canada and Australia. It can be a life-changing experience.

Mr. Nawrocki’s wife, Helene, said: “When you come up here, and you look up and can see the Milky Way, you are changed. You will never be the same again. It pulls people out of being self-centered. It pulls people out of their own little worlds.”

The dark-sky field at Cherry Springs is open year round, with 60 to 85 nights a year that are ideal for stargazing. Conditions are actually better in the fall and winter, when the humidity is lower and, of course, the nights last longer.

Besides two annual “star parties” at Cherry Springs (the next is scheduled today through Sunday), which draw hundreds of professional and amateur astronomers, the park has programs, most free, for those who just want to peek at the stars. Volunteer star guides, like Mr. Nawrocki, provide history and facts and often share their telescopes.

Eleven years ago, the Nawrockis moved from suburban Philadelphia to Potter County because they wanted a calmer life. They got a fringe benefit: Because Potter County is so isolated, the night skies are often pitch black.

A visitor from their old neighborhood arrived with a telescope, and Mr. Nawrocki, already a “Star Trek” and Carl Sagan fan, was overwhelmed. Mr. Nawrocki, a nurse by trade, began to learn more about the planets and stars, and he absorbed so much information that he became a volunteer star guide at Cherry Springs.

BECAUSE it sits in the Allegheny Mountains, about 60 miles northwest of the nearest city, Williamsport, Cherry Springs offers optimum stargazing conditions. The park sits atop a 2,300-foot mountain, surrounded by relatively undeveloped state forest. And there is little commercial air traffic.

The main stargazing field is a 50-acre lawn, speckled with clover and rimmed with low-standing pines, that has a view that nearly stretches from horizon to horizon — a natural planetarium. Earthen berms were built and trees planted next to the road that runs through the park to absorb light from the little traffic that passes through.

The park sits off State Route 44, so it is much more accessible than other ideal stargazing locales. Its location was crucial in helping it become established. In 1998, Mr. Harrison, the park manager, said he noticed a man peering through a telescope at Cherry Springs. He asked him why the park was such a good place to look at stars.

The astronomer, Mr. Harrison said, had found his way to Cherry Springs because nighttime satellite photos of the Earth’s surface had shown it to be smack-dab in a black patch — one of the best spots east of the Mississippi River for stargazing. So Mr. Harrison figured Cherry Springs was big enough for the public to share the sky with astronomers.

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“Being from here, I’d always appreciated the dark skies at night,” said Mr. Harrison, who lives in nearby Coudersport, “but I didn’t have a true appreciation until I’d met these astronomers.”

A Cherry Springs Dark Sky Fund has been established to finance enhancements to the park to make it even better for stargazing. To cut back on light pollution, for example, all the park’s fixtures are shielded.

The cost of a visit is minimal: $4 to use the observation field and $20 to $25 to use one of three large white domes and a shed at the field that open so astronomers can set their telescopes inside and look at the stars — and take photographs — without the telescopes being shaken by the wind.

For less sophisticated stargazers, there are Music and Stars programs — $10 a person, $17 for families — that include a concert, hot chocolate and cookies, plus a 10 p.m. tour of the night sky by Mr. Nawrocki, who has retired and started a company, Crystal Spheres, that also offers star talks to private groups.

“There’s a good part and a bad part,” he said of gazing into a sky of 10,000 stars. “It’s good because there are so many stars. It’s bad because there are so many stars. It’s hard to keep yourself oriented sometimes.”

ONE Saturday night in June, Mr. Nawrocki gave a one-hour star tour to about 200 people, many bundled in blankets, who had just listened to a concert by Jakob’s Hollow, a local folk group. The sky was clear and illuminated by a first-quarter moon — not perfect conditions, but not bad. Five telescopes and star maps were provided.

The ground rules: Only flashlights with red lights were allowed, and they could only be pointed downward. Those leaving the park were asked to keep their headlights off until they were away from the dark-sky field. Conversations were kept low, as hushed as those in a church.

The crowd included visitors from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Rochester — and several people from just down the road, which is a recent development. As Lori Bollhorst, a resident of nearby Sweden Valley, put it later, “Now when you hear ‘stargazing,’ you know it’s not just something you go out and do in your backyard.”

Carol Spaulding, who lives in Coudersport, says she used to enjoy lazy drives through the park with her husband because the daytime scenery was so magnificent. The views are majestic, looking down on rumpled hills that are blanketed with trees that blaze with color each fall.

But now, she goes there at night. And she gazes upward, learning a little more with every visit about a sky she says she always took a little for granted.

“I don’t have a telescope, but I love to come out here because it’s so beautiful,” she said between bites of a cookie. “These people are so anxious to share their telescopes with you and help you see the skies. It takes your breath away.

“You feel like you can touch the stars.”

VISITOR INFORMATION

Cherry Springs State Park, where a “star party” will be held this weekend, is in Potter County, Pa., off State Route 44, about 15 miles southeast of Coudersport, Pa. From New York, take Interstate 80 west to I-180 north. At Williamsport, take Route 15 North, then Route 6 west to Galeton. Follow signs for about 11 miles to Cherry Springs.

The Potter County Visitors Bureau (www.visitpottercounty.com) offers information about places to stay, eat and shop. With about 18,000 residents spread over 1,081 square miles, Potter County is a prime area for fishing, hunting, hiking and snowmobiling.

A little money goes a long way in Potter County. The Mill Stream Inn (918 East Second Street, Coudersport; 814-274-9900; www.millstreaminn.com), which is about 12 miles from Cherry Springs, has double rooms for $73 and suites for $115.

A typical dinner for two at the Sweden Valley Inn (Route 6 at Route 44 in Coudersport; 814-274-7057; www.swedenvalleyinn.com) costs about $30.